Feds overpaid public servants by $140 million last year

Troubled Phoenix system largely to blame

The federal government doled out $140 million in overpayments to Canada’s public servants last year — largely thanks to the malfunctioning Phoenix payroll system.

Marie Lemay, deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, was unable to say today how many employees were overpaid in 2016, but the department says 14,000 still have outstanding payments that could cause them tax headaches as a result.

Overpayments have always been a problem for the federal government — but those and other pay errors were key reasons cited for replacing Ottawa’s 40-year-old former pay system. Overpayments have nearly doubled since the introduction of